Hitch device



A. w. OEHLER 2,311,859

HITCH DEVICE Original Filed June so, 1959 Feb. 23, 1943.

24 :54 0 w 33 Z a 23 25 FIG. I

INVENTOR Patented Feb. 23, 1943 HITCH DEVICE Alvin W. Oehler, Moline, 111., assignorto Deere &

Company, Moline, 111., a corporation of Illinois briginal application June so, 1939, Serial No.

1941, Serial No. 400,388

sclaims. (or. 280-334;

The present invention relates generally to hitch devices and more particularly to devices for hitching a trailing implement to a tractor in such a manner that the implement trails in laterally offset position with respect to the tractor or other draft device, so that the latter need not run over the ground immediately ahead of the implement. Devices of this type have their greatest application in connection with harvesting machines, such as windrowers or the like, having a structural frame disposed transversely of the line of travel with a cutter bar extending along the forward edge thereof and a platform behindthe cutter bar with a conveyor for moving grain severed by the cutter bar. In order that the tractor does not'need to travel ahead of the cutter bar and thus damage the standing grain, the implement is usually provided with a hitch member connected to the frame in laterally offset relation near one end thereof, the forward end of the hitch member being pivotally connected to the drawbar of the draft device or tractor.

It is well-known to those skilled in the art that the outer or grainward end of the platform-has a tendency to lag behind due to the offset draft'connection with the frame, and various means for maintaining the implement frame perpendicular to the direction of travel are known in the art.

It is the principal object of the present invention to provide means for preventing the outer Divided and this application- June 30,

' Figure 1 is a plan view of a windrower embodying the principles of my invention; and

.end of the platform to lag behind, and thus to hold the platform in a position generally perpendicular with the direction .of forward travel. In

the accomplishment of this object, I have provided an auxiliary hitch member between-the tractor and the implement frame, connected in offset relation to the main draft member and spaced laterally on the stubbleward side thereof.

This auxiliary member is extensible and is provided with a spring for urging the member toward extended position and thus to impose a force acting rearwardly against the stubbleward extension of the implement frame beyond the point of connection of the main draft member, the spring action tending to force the grainward end of the platform forwardly into the proper operating position. I

This application is a division 'of a co-pending application, Serial No. 282,026, filed June 30, 1939, by Ralph L. Anderson and myself.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art after a consideration of the following description in which reference is made to the drawing appended hereto, in which Figure 2 is a sectional viewv taken along a line 2-2 in Figure 1 and drawn to an enlarged scale. Referring now to the drawing, the windrower, indicated in its entirety by reference numeral 5. comprises a transversely disposed platform frame 6 including front and rear transverse frame members I, 8 interconnected by suitable longitudinally disposed frame members 9, III, and carried on laterally spaced ground wheels ll, l2. A conventional cutter bar l3 extends transversely across the forward edge of the frame 6 and is driven by any suitable means (not shown) for severing the standing grain from the field and allowing the latter to fell upon a conventional canvas platform conveyor I4 behind the cutter bar 3. The conveyor l4 transports the harvested grain inwardly toward the stubbleward end of the platform and discharges the grain into a crop discharge opening IS in the frame. A-plurality of longitudinally disposed rods l6 are supported from the forward frame member I and extends rearwardly across the opening l5 for the purpose of pressing down the stubble and laying the harvested grain thereupon in a manner wellknown to those skilled in the art.

, The windrower is drawn by a tractor having a draft frame 20 and is connected with the wind- 4 rower by means of a hitch member 2| comprising a pair of beams 22 connected together at their forward ends by a gusset plate 23 and extending rearwardly in diverging relation therefrom. The

plate 23 is pivotally connected by means of a. verframe 8 by means of a pair of transversely dis- Y posed coaxial pivot bolts 21, respectively, providing for vertical swinging movement of the hitch device 2| relative to the implement frame 6, but preventing relative lateral swinging movement thereof. The hitch device 2! is offset toward the stubbleward side of the windrower frame 6, so that the tractor does not run over the standing grain ahead of the cutter bar I 3. This offset draft relation produces a tendency for the outer or grainward end of the platform to lag behind the inner end, swinging the implement about the draft bolt 24.

This tendency is counteracted by means of a bracing and aligning member 3|! comprising a pair of telescoping members 3|, 32. The forward member 3| is in the form of a tube, and is con-' nected at its forward end by means of a pivot bolt 33 to one of a series of apertures 34 in a transversely disposed member 35 of the draft frame of the tractor, the apertures 3! being in laterally offset relation with the pivot bolt 24 of the main hitch member 2!. The other telescoping member 32 is in the form of a rod slidable within the tube 3| and connected at its rearward end by a generally transversely disposed pivot bolt 35 to a bracket 31 attached to the stubblewardend of the implement frame 6, extended in the stubbleward direction beyond the main hitch member 2|. The pivotbolt 36 is disposed approximately'coaxial with the pivot bolts 21 of the hitch member 2| so that the implement frame 6 can be adjusted about the axis of the supporting wheels I I, I2 in a manner well-known to those skilled in the art.

The bracing member is urged toward ex-. tended position by means of a compression spring 40 in the form of a coil through which the members 3|, 32 extend coaxially. One end of the spring 40 bears against a collar 4|, secured as by welding, to the tubular member 3!, and at its opposite end bears againstan adjustable collar 42, which encircles'the rod 32 and is slidable axially therealong. The collar-42 is secured in any desired position of adjustment by means of a set screw 43.

The set screw 43 is loosened before the implement is coupled to the tractor, the latter being accomplished by connecting the main hitch member 21 to the draft frame 20 by the pivot bolt 2| and by connecting the tubular member 3i to the transverse draft frame member by the bolt 33. The tractor is then driven forwardly and turned sharply to the right relative to the hitch member 2|, thus extending the telescoping members 3i, 32, after which the collar 42 is moved up against the end of the spring and secured to the rod 32 by tightening the set screw 43. Now when the tractor is driven forwardly, drawing the implement in a straight line, the draft frame member 35 is returned to its normal position, thus closing the telescoping members 3!, 32 together and compressing the spring 40. The force of the spring in compression tends to force the stubbleward end of the implement frame rearwardly and thus to restrain the grainward end of the frame from lagging behind during forward operation. The effect of the spring 40 in holding the implement frame in transverse alignment can be adjusted connecting said hitch member to a draft device.

and a bracing device extending forwardly from said frame structure and pivotaily connected to said draft device at a point spaced laterally from said connection with said hitch member toward said one end of said structure, said bracing de, vice including resilient means so constructed and arranged as to exert a continuously acting-force urging the outer end of said frame structure forwardly to counteract the tendency of the latsaid frame structure and pivotally connected to.

said draft device at a point spaced laterally from said connection with said hitch member toward said one end of said structure, said bracing device comprising a pair of telescoping members and spring means acting between thelatter in a direction tending to extend said members for exerting a continuous force upon said frame structure counteracting the tendency of the outer end thereof to lag behind during forward travel of the implement.

3. In an implement comprising a transversely extending frame structure having ground engaging supporting means and a laterally rigid hitch member connected to said frame structureoifset toward one end of the latter, means for pivotaily connecting said hitch member to a tractor, a bracing member having one end connected to said frame structure at a point spaced laterally in a direction toward said one end of said frame structure, from said hitch member, and means for pivotally connecting the opposite end of said bracing member to the tractor at a point spaced in the same direction from said pivot means, said bracing member being extensible and having spring means biased to normally exert a pressure by moving the collar 42 along the rod 32 and also v tending to extend said bracing member for exerting a continuous force upon said frame structure counteracting the tendency of the outer end thereof to lag behind during forward travel of the implement.

ALVIN W. OEHLER. 

